Wondering about free agents and arbitration-eligible players

Wondering about free agents and arbitration-eligible players
With COVID-19 stalling the start of the baseball season until July 23 and 24 and owners tallying the lost revenue, it appears to be a most unfortunate time for a player to be entering free agency. The usual big spenders might be keeping those checkbooks closed. Especially if they find it more difficult to calculate income in 2021. Service time counts in 2020 no matter how many games are played, which inches outfielder Mookie Betts closer to the market entrance. Does it become harder to break...

Orioles getting ready for roster redesign

Orioles getting ready for roster redesign
Among the many details to emerge concerning the 2020 baseball season was the unfreezing of rosters today and the ability of team executives to resume making cuts and potential trades. The Orioles must create a 30-man roster for opening day, which will be held on July 23 or 24. It's reduced to 28 players after two weeks and 26 after four. It was so long ago that fans may have forgotten, but the Orioles had 54 players on their camp roster on March 12 when baseball shut down and everyone became...

Is the DH destined to be done in both leagues?

Is the DH destined to be done in both leagues?
I'm going to be accused of American League bias. I don't care. A universal designated hitter is coming to Major League Baseball in 2020 and 2021. If owners get their way, of course. It's in the proposal - or the agreement, depending on which term you've adopted. There's a sense that the new rule will carry beyond 2021. That pitchers will keep their bats in the rack except for extreme circumstances. Who's shedding tears? The purists who will miss a .050 hitter bunting the ball foul? I'm...

Milone on workouts, health and uncertain season

Milone on workouts, health and uncertain season
Orioles pitcher Tommy Milone is spending his days and nights working out and finding tasks to stay busy at his home in Santa Clarita, Calif., a city that's located about 45 minutes north of Los Angeles and known for its variety of roller coasters at the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park. Milone should be used to the ups and downs. But his first year with the Orioles has been a shock to the system. How could the veteran left-hander have anticipated everything thrown at him? The coronavirus...

Dealing with baseball's trade deadline

Dealing with baseball's trade deadline
While owners and players keep digging in their heels and the threat remains that the 2020 season is going to be buried, I wonder about its structure if it can be salvaged. I'm waiting for clarification on the taxi squad beyond the expectation that it would hold 20 players. I'm waiting for clarification on the trade deadline. As in, will one exist? Major League Baseball eliminated the Aug. 31 waiver deadline last year. The July 31 deadline could be pushed back due to the season's late start...

Because You Asked - I Want to Believe

Because You Asked - I Want to Believe
Because I've become quite adept at disappointing fans who seek answers from me during the coronavirus pandemic, I'm comfortable opening my latest "mailbag" and also putting the word in quotation marks. With all of the binge-watching that's taking place in households around the world, I'm hoping that you'll happily accept my latest sequel. Try to fit it in between episodes of "Ozark" and "Tiger King." In a related story, I haven't seen either one. I actually thought the latter was a...

Adjustment in Castro's delivery monitored from long distance

Adjustment in Castro's delivery monitored from long distance
The last pitch thrown by Orioles reliever Miguel Castro on March 6 provided evidence that work done on the side, the late tinkering of his delivery, was producing the desired results. But could he keep it going so many miles from the spring training complex? From his home in the Dominican Republic over the past two months? Pitching coach Doug Brocail keeps checking on it while back at his residence in Texas. Again, the video technology that's keeping family and friends connected during the...

More on the baseball stoppage

More on the baseball stoppage
The Orioles would have been wrapping up a three-game series this afternoon in Toronto if the coronavirus pandemic hadn't short-circuited the season. Thirty-six games already would be in the books, assuming there were no postponements. The Orioles would enjoy an off-day Thursday, along with the rest of us, and host the Angels for a weekend series. This is how it's supposed to be playing out. The baseball world stopped spinning on March 12 with spring training camps shut down and players in...

This, that and the other

This, that and the other
Part of my spring training routine that disappeared after March 11 was receiving and passing along the list of Orioles extras brought over from the minor league complex. Some high draft picks and some minor league free agents. Pitcher Isaac Mattson fell into a different category. The Orioles didn't draft or sign him. They acquired him from the Angels as part of the four-pitcher package for Dylan Bundy. Mattson appeared in two exhibition games and totaled one inning, but he warranted our...

Because You Asked - The Island of Lost Dreams

Because You Asked - The Island of Lost Dreams
I'm wearing rubber gloves today while sorting through my mailbag. All of my clothes are made out of Glad trash bags. Safety first. Don't use the scented brand. They'll give you a headache. I'd keep a six-foot distance from the mail, but my vision is pretty bad. Also, my arms wouldn't reach it. You know what's also a reach? Trying to convince anyone that there's an actual bag. But treat it as you would "Rocky IV" and suspend disbelief. (The Soviet crowd chanting his name at the end?...

Armstrong's strong spring and a deeper dive into Orioles bullpen

Armstrong's strong spring and a deeper dive into Orioles bullpen
The magic of video is enabling the Orioles to stay connected while spread all over the country. I've heard that reliever Shawn Armstrong was able to share a bullpen session with one of his teammates that included a fastball clocked at 97 mph. Armstrong's fastball averaged 93.9 mph last season, per BrooksBaseball.net. There is no data available on his home workouts. An expansion of rosters from 26 to 29 players for the first month enables the Orioles to carry at least a few extra relievers to...

Reviewing the Orioles' 40-man roster and upcoming decisions

Reviewing the Orioles' 40-man roster and upcoming decisions
While checking eBay to see whether anyone is selling liquid hand soap ... I accepted the challenge on Twitter yesterday of naming five jobs that I held before becoming a sportswriter, and discovered that I couldn't complete the list. I've literally only had five jobs: * "Unskilled labor" for a construction company the summer before college, which I'm certain was suggested by my parents to ensure that I'd go to college. * A clerk at Glen Burnie Bingo on Richie Highway, where I'd often...

Taking an Orioles quiz during the shutdown

Taking an Orioles quiz during the shutdown
With no baseball to be played or watched on a Sunday, what better substitute than a pop quiz on the Orioles? Oh, please, no need to thank me. This is the coronavirus edition. Extra credit awarded for expanding on "none of the above" by making a prediction. The Orioles' fifth starter will be: A. Tommy Milone B. Kohl Stewart C. A player who wasn't in camp D. None of the above The backup catcher will be: A. Chance Sisco B. Austin Wynns C. Bryan Holaday D. None of the above The right fielder on...

How it might look in 2020: The O's rotation

How it might look in 2020: The O's rotation
Over the next few weeks, let's take a look at some aspects of the Orioles and how they were shaping up at the time that spring training was halted. Today, a look at the rotation. To me the rotation was setting up this way: No. 1 - John Means: He was slated to be the opening day starter if the opener was going to be on March 26. Everything was pointing to that and Means was on schedule for that start. It just had not been announced yet. Means had a solid spring and looked confident and ready to...

Learning about the Orioles before spring training ended

Learning about the Orioles before spring training ended
The Orioles would have been hosting the split-squad Nationals this afternoon if spring training had proceeded without interruption. More roster cuts would have been made in order to get closer to 26. To at least get out of the 50s, which I'd love to do. Instead, players are returning home or waiting for the next directive. Workouts turned informal and then became discouraged. Trying to stay unified is admirable, but no longer seems practical. At least in large groups. Owners are clinging to...

Williams exhibiting patience again while in holding pattern

Williams exhibiting patience again while in holding pattern
Mason Williams had a chance to audition for the Orioles in September until crashing into a wall and injuring his knee. He made it through only 11 games. Williams had an opportunity in spring training to convince the Orioles that he should make the club as an extra outfielder, and perhaps the starter in right until Trey Mancini returns, but exhibition games were stopped and camps closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The importance of baseball competitions and roster decisions shrank as...

New version of spring training removes formal workouts

New version of spring training removes formal workouts
SARASOTA, Fla. - Players were told to stay yesterday and then encouraged to leave. Because spring training wasn't going to conclude without making another run at crazy. Teams aren't holding formal workouts, a stunning reversal from where we were led earlier in the day. The benefits of keeping everyone together seemed to crumble before our eyes. Getting ready for the season is a secondary concern in a pandemic. There's no way that opening day is happening on April 9, the earliest date...

Eshelman picks bad time for poor start (O's lose 14-2)

Eshelman picks bad time for poor start (O's lose 14-2)
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The auditions for jobs in Orioles camp moved this afternoon to the Blue Jays' newly renovated spring training complex. Thomas Eshelman made another start while trying to convince the Orioles to keep him as a fifth starter or long reliever. Mason Williams led off and played center field, hopeful that he'll head north in a bench role or perhaps as Trey Mancini's replacement in right if needed. Utility candidates Pat Valaika, Stevie Wilkerson and Dilson Herrera landed in the...

Cobb scratched due to blister on pitching hand

Cobb scratched due to blister on pitching hand
DUNEDIN, Fla. - Alex Cobb hasn't been slowed in camp by the hip and knee surgeries he underwent in June, but a blister on his pitching hand caused manager Brandon Hyde to remove him from Thursday's starting assignment against the Twins in Fort Myers. Hyde said it's a "small, little" blister and Cobb would pitch with it in the regular season. Cobb will be used in a simulated game on the back fields in Sarasota, under a controlled environment, while Bruce Zimmermann makes the start against...

Scott still sending strikeouts with sizzle

Scott still sending strikeouts with sizzle
SARASOTA, Fla. - Tanner Scott will take the one-pitch outs. Ground ball, fly ball, however they come. He isn't averse to them. There are those occasions, however, when he can't stop the strikeouts. It happened again Sunday afternoon against the Yankees. Scott was assigned the ninth inning and fanned the side. Armando Alvarez, Brandon Lockridge and Trey Amburgey took turns flailing at fastballs clocked at 100-101 mph and the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium reacted to each radar reading on the...